- The failure rate of our material is less than 0.2%.
- 95% of material returned to us for checking as assumed to be
faulty is absolutely working normally.
- In the vast majority of cases customers contact to us that they
have no or only a weak spark ignition
is working properly, but general setup of the motorcycle is faulty or
they try to test in unsuitable ways
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After the problems have been solved, we always ask the customer to tell us
what the reason was.
Here the most frequent problems found:
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ignition side
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- Wrong understanding of what how high energy spark looks like and unsuitable
testing methods leading to such findings as "i
have only a weak spark"
- Very many customers suspect the regulator when they encounter
ignition problems.
the regulator however does not have any role in ignition. Only
connection between lighting and ignition is - so installed - the
relay. See info here
- Problem number 1 is bad or missing ground!
this can not be stressed enough. Please do not rely on the frame as an
electrical conductor
- Problem number 2 are spark plugs and/or
spark plug caps.
Here we here again and again new ones have been used, plugs tested in
other engines have been used etc.
Still, this is a major problem. See info here
- Very many problems are connected to blue kill
wire and cut-off relay
In the case of the rely often the black wire which brings the
activating voltage to the relay is wrongly connected to the main
switch and does NOT bring the needed voltage - as a result ignition
remains off.
- As the customer would have just installed the Powerdynamo ignition,
he tents to suspect it as the cause for engine starting/running
problems. Experience however shows that in most cases causes for
problems are not in ignition material, but other
engine aspect. Frequent finds have been:
- carburetor problems
nobody wants to hear this, but more often
than not there are ebay offers where carb needles do not match the
needle jet or do not sit in the middle of the jet. Customers did buy
"new or refurbished" carbs, trusting they are ok, which they
mostly have not been.
In twin engines this often makes the customer think that one
side of a twin ignition coil is faulty (which
can not be).
also missing or bad carburator
insulation can lead to starting problems when hot.
- wrong assembly of engine or assembly with wrong or bad parts (2stroke
pistons exhaust side to barb, larger crank sprocket leading to slower
starting revolutions, bad oilseals magneto side in 2strokes,
- using battery ignition without battery as
relying on our dynamo (alternator) only system. Can not work!
- tuning activities (modified compression, bore, even stroke,
camshaft modifications etc)
This we get a lot. People change bore, stroke, compression, crank angles
(In twins), camshafts... you name it. Our
material is always made for the standard engine, not a tuned one!
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lighting side
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- Number 1 problem is faulty wiring in motorcycle grid outside
Powerdynamo system
Here nothing is impossible. After all, you have an old motorcycle with
often unknown past.
Frequent finds have been:
- missing wire from new regulator plus and/or battery to main switch
(very frequent!)
- bad or wrong main switch and terminals of same
- bad batteries which consume all
produced energy but do not load (internal short circuit) - quite
often!
- We had short circuits on tachometer bulb inside tachometer that
happened when bulbs got changed
from 6 to 12V, so problem was not visible before
- Problematic is always when motorcycles had originally both
alternating current (AC) for headlight and possibly taillight as well
as direct current (DC) for battery charge and flashers. Those
two part grids have to be combined in the fully DC environment of
the Powerdynamo (except AC systems). This problem can be really
tricky. We will gladly assist the customer in this if we get a copy of
the original wiring from him.
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A further frequent problem are customer modifications on wiring and
connector plugs of Powerdynamo components. In very many cases we get
material back for testing where wires have been cut, welded or connected
by various, often unsuitable connectors.
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- note that welding may damage electronics
- crimping of replacement terminals is often not good without access
to proper tools
- re-wiring always bears the danger of short circuits and wire mix
ups!
- last not least we always have additional efforts to test such
material as connectors are not standard any more (if not missing at
all)
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The number of customer complaints of ignition failures is
manifestly higher in spring. We get such reports as "last year all was
ok, now i wanted to drive again, did not start".
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- battery low?
- carburettor blocked by dirt particles?
- petrol over the moon (it ages very quickly!)?
- airfilter moist?
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back to KB overview
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